The selloff of the von Essen portfolio of properties in the U.K. is finally complete as entrepreneur and BBC2 television personality James Caan just picked up the 22-room Ston Easton Park in Bath and 24-room Sharrow Bay in Cumbria at a bargain price reported at £4.5 million (US$7.1 million).

Both properties were originally put on the market for £5 million (US$7.9 million) each but sold at steep discounts reportedly due to a short leasehold at Sharrow Bay.

A variety of new owners are now in the process of upgrading the former von Essen country properties. For example, Caan reportedly has arranged a new long-term lease at Sharrow Bay and plans to develop his two new hotels into boutique country house hotels.

The 28-hotel von Essen portfolio went into administration in April 2011 with debts of £295 million (US$468 million). With these final sales, total proceeds from the sales reached only £150 million (US$238 million). The most expensive former von Essen hotel was the 41-room Cliveden, located in Taplow, England, which sold for £30 million (US$47 million) from the U.K.’s National Trust to British billionaire brothers Ian and Richard Livingstone.

London property magnate Andrew Davis founded von Essen Hotels in the 1990s. The firm fell into financial difficulty due in part to its aggressive acquisition strategy, along with an inability to maintain acceptable RevPAR rates at its pricey provincial properties through the economic downturn.

After purchasing London’s most famous department store, Harrods, for £1.5 billion from Mohamed Al Fayed in May 2010, Qatar Holding has now announced its plans to expand the brand into a chain of luxury hotels. Preference will be given to developing hotels on sites that Qatar Holding already owns, which include Chelsea Barracks in London and Costa Smeralda on the Italian island of Sardinia. However, the group also plans to grow Harrods into a global brand. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with property developer Jerantas Sdn Bhd to build a Harrods Hotel in Kuala Lumpur – both companies will jointly invest RM2 billion (US$632 million) in the project – and other possible destinations include Paris, New York and China.

The owner of the Hoxton Hotel in London, Enismore Capital, has plans to expand with two more hotels in the city and one in New York. The private equity group is looking for sites in regeneration areas in London in order to develop hotels of around 200 rooms each, based on the concept of the original Hoxton in Shoreditch. Enismore bought the hotel in May for around £65 million, which ended months of speculation linking Morgans Hotel Group to a bid for the property.

As hotels try to offer guests technology they’ll be able to both understand and use, the high-tech Opus boutique hotel in Vancouver has come up with a novel approach — replacing the arguably obsolete wireless hotel phone with an iPhone. The hotel is in the process of making the switch to iPhones, figuring that guests will know how to use them and appreciate having a Canadian phone to eliminate international roaming fees on their personal phones. Guests have the freedom to take their room’s iPhone with them as they venture into the city for meetings, dinner, shopping or sightseeing. The phones can help them stay connected to the Internet and both make and receive phone calls. The phone will also keep them connected to the hotel, since each iPhone is programmed with one-touch contacts for each of the hotel’s departments, whether the concierge, housekeeping or room service. Local calls are complimentary. Once a guest checks out, the iPhone’s automatically wiped clean by an application to ensure privacy and security.

Z NYC, a Long Island City boutique hotel with a rooftop bar and a limo service to and from Manhattan, is now offering a less luxurious amenity: complimentary bikes. The Z — which opened in July 2011 and is one of more than dozen hotels that have recently been built in Long Island City — is starting its bike initiative just a few weeks before the city plans to launch its own bike share program in Long Island City.“There is so much in Long Island City and a lot of people aren’t aware of it,” said Lisa Gneo, director of sales for the Z Hotel. “So maybe the best way for our customers to really get familiar with it, is to be on a bike.”

Miami’s Nikki Beach Hotels & Resorts has partnered with Lebanon-based developer Zardman to launch its first resort and spa in Lebanon, due to open in 2014. The luxury resort will be located on the Damour coastline and will feature 25 villas, a boutique hotel and the signature Nikki Beach Club. The hotel has been designed by Soma architects with interior design by Gatserelia design.

Lowe Enterprises Investors said it bought the Hotel Derek, a 314-room style & design hotel in Houston’s Galleria area, for an undisclosed price. The company plans to invest at least $4.5 million in the property to refresh the guest rooms and common areas, as well as enhance meeting space with features such as updated technology, the Los Angeles-based real estate investment and management firm said in its statement.

Istithmar World, a subsidiary of Dubai World, Dubai, announced on Monday that it plans to convert the Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner into a 300-room hotel. The state-owned company bought the ship from Carnival Corp. subsidiary Cunard in 2007 for US$100 million and said the conversion will take 16 months. The ship was originally planned to be converted into a hotel and stationed at the base of Palm Jumeirah, but these plans were delayed by the financial crisis. Now Istishmar World plans to dock the floating hotel permanently in Port Rashid, and in addition to a hotel part of the ship will be converted into a maritime museum highlighting Dubai’s nautical history. Istithmar World is not releasing details of how much is being invested in the project or the source of the funding.

Work is underway on an extended-stay hotel in the heart of Beverly Hills where guests must agree to pay a minimum of $12,000 to settle in. The property now known as AKA Beverly Hills at 155 N. Crescent Drive is undergoing $10 million worth of renovations to prepare for an Oct. 1 opening. It’s intended to serve travelers who will be in town for more than a few days but not long enough justify leasing an apartment. “Three or four months is the sweet spot,” said Larry Korman, co-president of developer Korman Communities. Prices will start at $400 a night with a minimum one-month stay.

The UK-based Big Sleep budget hotel brand has been put on the market for £6.6 million. The chain, set up by entrepreneur Cosmo Fry (an heir of the Fry chocolate family) in 1999, includes three hotels across England and Wales. The 81-room Big Sleep Hotel in the Welsh capital, Cardiff, has a price tag of £2 million; the 60-room Big Sleep Hotel in the town of Cheltenham, southern England, can be yours for £3 million; and the 50-room Big Sleep Hotel in the seaside resort of Eastbourne, on England’s south coast, will cost you £1.6 million. “There is plenty of mileage left in the Big Sleep concept and we are hoping a bigger chain will recognise this as an opportunity to acquire a bespoke hotel brand with a proven track record,” said Fry.

Hard Rock International is bringing its Hard Rock Hotel brand to the Middle East for the first time. The US-based group has signed an agreement with Aabar Properties for the development and management of the 378-room Hard Rock Hotel Abu Dhabi in the UAE, which is due to open in 2014. Overlooking the turquoise waters of the Arabian Gulf, Hard Rock Hotel Abu Dhabi will feature an assortment of signature restaurants, entertainment and meeting facilities, including the renowned Hard Rock Cafe. Other key attractions include a beautifully appointed Sky Lobby on the fifth floor podium, spectacular Lobby Bar with outdoor entertainment deck and hookah lounge, as well as a 37^th floorSky Bar with swimming pool. The group currently has 14 hotels in the Americas and Asia, and other projects in the pipeline include Hard Rock International’s debut in Europe with a hotel in Hungary.

Morgans Hotel Group has formed a partnership with Ahmed Bennani, a Moroccan entrepreneur, and Hivernage Collection that will see it make its debut in North Africa with two hotels in Marrakech, Morocco; 15-year management agreements have been signed for a 72-room Delano property (the world’s second Delano hotel and the first Delano-branded hotel outside of the USA), which is scheduled to open in September 2012, and a Mondrian hotel which is expected to open at the end of 2013. The Delano is designed by internationally acclaimed interior designer Jacques Garcia and the hotel’s unconventional baroque interior brings together precious marbles, sumptuous draped velvet, and rare fabrics to create a relaxing and intimate atmosphere.

This July and August in advance of the Summer Olympic Games, The Berkeley in London will host weekly synchronized swimming classes in partnership with award-winning synchronized swimming team Aquabatix. Swimmers will learn several key skills including the “eggbeater kick,” a form of treading water that allows for stability and height above the water while leaving the hands free to perform strokes, as well as “sculling,” hand movements used to propel the body, which are the most essential part to synchronized swimming. By the end of the class, the group — which will be limited to eight people — will be able to perform a complete routine. Classes will take place at The Berkeley’s open-air pool, which boasts panoramic views of Hyde Park, and are open to hotel guests and visitors alike for £125 (US$196) (€156) per person.

InterContinental Hotels Group is bringing its Hotel Indigo brand to Wales for the first time. The Hotel Indigo Queen Street Cardiff will be developed in a former office building in the city of Cardiff, southeast Wales. The 92-bedroom Hotel Indigo Cardiff will be operated by Sanguine Hospitality and to become the fifth Hotel Indigo to be managed by Sanguine. It already has properties open in Liverpool and Birmingham, with Hotel Indigo Newcastle opening on 1 June. Planning permission has also been obtained for a Hotel Indigo in Manchester.

Le Méridien Barcelona has renovated 19 suites and its spa. Isabel Lopez Vilalta + Associates designed the new spaces. The Mediterranean suites include a 40 sq m (430 sq ft) outdoor terrace with a large dining table, seating, a sculpture by the Catalan artist Jaume Amigó and a rain shower. In addition to a large terrace, the Mediterranean suites offer locally designed furniture and work by Catalan artist Jaume Amigó. The Prestige Suite offers separate living and sleeping areas. The hub of the suite is a circular living room with large windows, half-moon-shaped sofas, dining tables and, in some cases, verandas. Like the Mediterranean Suites, the Prestige Suite has furniture designed locally by Santa & Cole and art by Jaume Amigó. Some suites have sofabeds. The new Explore Spa Studio comprises two treatment rooms, an area for pedicures and hairdressing, a sauna, a steam room and a solarium with water elements. The spa also has a pool on its terrace.

The two-tower Millennium UN Plaza Hotel in New York is undergoing a $30 million, top-to-bottom interior renovation. The first phase will debut in September in the complex’s West Tower, which will feature updated guest rooms and the addition of a Skyline Club on the 30th floor (the latter space is being designed by French interior designer Didier Gomez). Then, next year, the 438-key hotel will introduce a new restaurant concept, bar and full lobby renovations, followed by an update of the guest rooms in its East Tower. Overseeing the creation of most of the new interiors at the 36-year-old property is Grace Leo, ceo and founder of G.L.A. Hotels. “This iconic structure deserved a transformation of great distinction, far beyond a standard hotel renovation,” notes Leo.

W Union Square in New York City has completed a full renovation of its 270 guestrooms as well as its Extreme Wow and Wow suites. Guestrooms now feature a sculptural headboard that represents Union Square. Window coverings blend silver with silk fabric, similar to a man’s tie. The Extreme Wow suite is designed to work both as a suite and as an event venue, complete with space for a DJ booth and a wraparound couch that offers views of the city. The building, which dates to 1911, has much of its original design and details intact. For instance, the 2,300 sq ft (214 sq m) Great Room has a 23 ft (7 m) gilded ceiling and original details. The project also included a renovation of Todd English’s Olives New York restaurant. Lilium, the hotel’s bar, now features a new design by Gulla Jonsdottir of G+Design. The bar’s twisted metal ceiling flows down the walls to complement the black steel lilies sculpted by Scot Brown. The design also includes contoured wood and gold-tone accents. W Union Square collaborated with D-ash Design and Wilson Associates on the renovation project.

The Hotel Métropole in Monte-Carlo has invited designer Karl Lagerfeld to make over its exterior premises including the pool, terrace, gardens and a new Joel Robuchon restaurant. The first instalment of the project will be unveiled in July, but in the meantime, Lagerfeld has composed some frescos to create a feel of the hotel’s new look. And guess who has a starring role? None other than Baptiste Giabiconi, Karl’s French male model muse. Lagerfeld had an earlier turn on styling hotels, his first was the Schlosshotel im Grünewald in Berlin.

ABaC Restaurant, part of the boutique 15-room ABaC Hotel in Barcelona (or should we say the other way around?) was awarded Best Restaurant of the Year 2011 by the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy. It is an award to cookers, restaurants, professionals, groups and institutions related to the Catalan gastronomy world that had stand out during 2011 in Catalonia. Chef Jordi Cruz has only headed the restaurant since April 2010, and which also became a two star rating in the Michelin guide. Set in the very heart of Barcelona, surrounded by gardens and greenery, the hotel is a fusion of 2 architectural styles. The new crystal pavilion is joined with the centennial building, recently refurbished to protect its historical and architectural value. All rooms enjoy a vanguardist design, are completely soundproofed and are fitted with state of the art technical features to ensure maximum comfort. The restaurant can seat up to 60 diners and is decorated in natural tones. The kitchen of 200 m2, has been designed by Joaquim Casademont and may be visited by the guests of the hotel. Other dining facilities include a breakfast room, where private dinner or lunch can be served, or the “Lounge Bar”, which opens until 2.00 p.m. and where the music, light and color of the room subtly change. There is also an extensive cellar, offering near 1000 references, and from which you can select your perfect wine. Meeting rooms and a complete Spa leaded by the luxury British spa and skincare brand Elemis offers a wide range of treatments, and completes the services of ABaC.

Starwood Hotels announced that it will open a second W Hotel in Dubai on The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Through the W brand’s unique and distinctive programming, W Dubai – The Palm will provide a contemporary lifestyle experience with a complete service offer. The hotel will feature 283 stylish guest rooms, including 102 suites, five WOW suites and two Extreme WOW suites (W’s interpretation of a Presidential Suite). W Dubai – The Palm will also offer W exclusives including the brand’s signature W Lounge experience (W’s transformation of the traditional lobby), a glamorous WET pool, SWEAT (W’s state-of-the-art fitness centre) and an AWAY Spa. The W Dubai on The Palm Jumeirah is expected to open in 2016. A W Hotel was originally announced for The Palm Jumeirah in 2006 but was put on hold. Another W Hotel was announced for Dubai Festival City, but has also been delayed. Just two weeks ago, the 384-room W Hotel  on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, slated to open in 2017 alongside a Westin and St. Regis Hotel was announced. Things seem to be picking up once again in Dubai.

Kimpton Hotels will be opening a new Palomar Hotel in the downtown of Phoenix, Arizona on June 5, marking the completion of the highly-anticipated development project, CityScape Phoenix.  The hotel, just steps from major sports arenas, entertainment venues and cultural attractions, will add 242 spacious and contemporary guest rooms and suites and more than 10,000 square feet of stylish, flexible meeting space to the city’s lineup and will bring even more energy to the downtown Phoenix area. The destination’s interior design scheme – from the public and event spaces to the guest rooms and suites – embodies a relaxed sophistication that is modern while reflecting Arizona’s casual approach. While the overall feel is stylish and laid-back, the hotel’s desert-infused color palette features a nod to the energetic undercurrent of its CityScape and downtown Phoenix surroundings with its pops of orange, its signature accent color. Design and décor elements that use bright spots of color, lines that create a sense of movement and light-hearted artistic touches also help to bring the hotel’s ‘Art in Motion’ theme to life.

With a grand opening on May 17, the 290-room Palace Hotel Tokyo will be a re-envisioning of the original Palace Hotel, which opened in 1961 as Japan’s first ever mixed use office-hotel building. That hotel was razed in 2009 to make way for this newer, sleeker, more modernized version. Ten restaurants and bars, a Club Lounge, an Evian Spa and free WiFi are some of the amenities the hotel is advertising, and all rooms supposedly have views of the gardens at Tokyo’s Imperial Palace. So know you know why it’s called the Palace hotel. The designs for the guest rooms and lobby area were done by Terry McGinnity, manager of GA Design International, known for hotel designs such as the Threadneedles in London, W Taipei and the upcoming Park Hyatt Mallorca.

South Beach Group Hotels has aquired the vacant Croydon Arms Hotel in Miami’s Mid Beach district, home to such hotels as the Fontainebleau and the Eden Roc. With the property’s close proximity to famed Millionaire’s Row, South Beach Group’s latest purchase will soon be the spot for people searching for more than just partying 24/7 in South Beach. The building at 3720 Collins Avenue was purchased for $6.75 million and a planned $15 million renovation of the property, which was built in 1937, is to follow. South Beach Group Hotels currently operates nine hotels and apartment complexes in Miami, including the Catalina Hotel & Beach Club, the Hotel Chelsea and the Whitelaw Hotel.

Not Kimpton Hotels, as we reported March 31, but Access Hotels & Resorts assumed management of the Hotel Sax Chicago from Thompson Hotels. Access and Sax owner, LaSalle Hotel Properties, could not be reached for comment reports The Chicago Tribune. Outgoing general manager Michael Carsh, a Thompson employee, attributed the split to a “philosophical difference.”

NYC’s historic Buckingham Hotel will reopen after its two year extensive renovation as The Quin. The Quin will be managed by Highgate Hotels which owns or manages several hotels around the city, including the Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel and the Paramount. Opened in 1929, the Buckingham was once a hub for opera singers and jazz musicians visiting the city to perform, largely because it is close to many of the city’s premiere theaters. The lobby once had numerous sculptures of famous musicians, complete with their old instruments. It’s unclear if the new management will maintain the hotel’s musical theme. Seven remaining elderly residents at the hotel in rent-stabilized apartments have complained about a nightmare full-building renovation that’s caused noise, flooding, broken pipes, hanging wires, and respiratory problems they blame on toxic dust.

The New York Post reported that Starwood Capital (not to be confused with Starwood Hotels) and Tribeca Associates are partnering to develop the fourth through 12^th floors of a 45-story tower in Manhattan across the street from the Museum of Modern Art. Luxury condominiums will take up the top floors while the bottom floors will be used by the New York Public Library. The development is set to open in 2014 and its total cost is US$400 million. Baccarat currently operates a residences property in Shanghai and is set to open a hotel and residences property in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2013.

High street clothing and home furnishings chain Laura Ashley has acquired the 49-room Edgwarebury Hotel in the village of Elstree, north of London, for £5.8 million from Corus Hotels, whose parent company, Malayan United Industries, is a major shareholder in Laura Ashley. The Tudor-style property is to be relaunched later this year as a boutique hotel showcasing Laura Ashley’s furnishings and design service. The sale reduces Corus Hotels’ UK portfolio to nine properties.

A little more than three weeks since it acquired three hotels in Germany, HPI Hotelbesitz GmbH has purchased the freehold of the Ibis Prague Karlin in the Czech Republic. HPI intends to renovate the 226-room hotel to bring it in line with the brand standards of its sister company, Pentahotels. The hotel will be rebranded later this year when the work is complete but in the meantime Accor’s Ibis brand will continue to manage the property. Several Pentahotels are featured on stylehotelsweb, a property in Beijing opened recently.

Of the Von Essen Hotels, which went into administration last year, only two out of 27 hotels remain unsold, the Ston Easton Park near Bath and the Sharrow Bay in the Lake District of northern England. This week three Von Essen’s were sold: The Royal Crescent in Bath, the Congham Hall in Norfolk and the Seaham Hall in Durham. The latter was featured on stylehotelsweb for some time, but was getting some bad reviews. Hopefully it will pick up again under new ownership and welcome it back on stylehotelsweb.

InterContinental Hotels Group has opened its second Hotel Indigo property in Scotland. The Hotel Indigo Edinburgh is housed in an 18th-century listed building (previously the Osbourne Hotel and originally five residential properties) at the heart of Edinburgh’s “New” Town. The 60-room hotel, owned by Sojourn Hotels, joins its sister property the 94-room Hotel Indigo Glasgow.

Marriott International is considering selling its three Edition hotels (New York, London, Miami Beach) to fund an expansion of the lifestyle brand created with Ian Schrager. “We already have interested buyers,” said Arne Sorensen in a recent interview. “We’re willing to put in more money to expand Edition,” added Mr Sorenson, who is set to replace Bill Marriott as chief executive officer at the end of the month. Marriott would continue to operate the properties after the sale. Besides those three locations, Marriott has announced Editions for Bangkok and Abu Dhabi. Marriott has a stated commitment of US$800 million to develop the Edition brand, an atypical move for the company that is primarily focused on managing hotels. The Edition brand has had a rocky start with only two Edition-branded hotels opened so far in Istanbul and Honolulu, and the Honolulu hotel has since rebranded amid legal acrimony between the hotel’s owner and Marriott.

Africa’s first easyHotel is to open later this year in Johannesburg, South Africa. Work is due to start next month on the 120-room easyHotel Rissik Street, which is being developed over three floors of the city’s former Stuttafords department store, and it is expected to open in November 2012. The budget hotel will be the first fruit of a 20-year master franchise agreement between easyHotel and African conglomerate Lonrho, which will see a total of 50 easyHotels open across the African continent by 2016.

Aloft Tucson University, a former Four Points by Sheraton property, will undergo a complete renovation before opening in the first half of 2013. The 150-room hotel is owned by Starwood, demonstrating the company’s commitment to the fast-

growing, three-year-old Aloft brand. In September, Aloft announced its first conversion project, Aloft San Francisco Airport (a former Clarion Hotel) set to open this fall. Additionally, Aloft’s “green” adaptive reuse of Dallas’ historic Santa Fe Railroad terminal won multiple awards from a local preservation group in 2010.“We continue to see two types of opportunities as ideal candidates for an Aloft conversion: Hotels built in the ‘70s or ‘80s in need of renovation, and unique independent boutique hotels seeking a stronger brand point of view and the ability to utilize Starwood systems,” said Allison Reid, Senior Vice President of North American Development for Starwood.

The Mövenpick Hotel Lausanne, Switzerland, has unveiled three new conference rooms and 72 stylish new business rooms following the completion of a major six-floor extension project. The business rooms in the newly built North wing are designed to satisfy a new generation of business travellers who not only need fast Wi-Fi and a safe place to store their laptops, but also a room that is contemporary as well as comfortable. New elements include a cutting edge ‘open space’ bathrooms with individual walk-in Italian style rain showers and separate toilet; a pillow menu with six different options; a 32-inch, 135-channel LED television; a Nespresso coffee machine; private balcony and an inviting interior design featuring soothing tones of dark purple offset by beige headboards, wooden motifs, bold carpets and historic images of the Ouchy area from Lausanne Museum.

More than a year after signing an agreement with Quays Hotels Ltd, Wyndham Worldwide has now opened its first managed Ramada hotel in the UK. Construction of the 200-room Ramada Encore Newcastle-Gateshead in the city of Newcastle, northeast England, started in February 2011 and cost £15 million to complete.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that a Hyatt affiliate has signed a management agreement with an affiliate of Island Hospitality Partners, LLC for Hyatt Place Bayamón and El Tropical Casino. It will be the first Hyatt-branded select service hotel in Puerto Rico and, upon opening, will mark the return of Hyatt-branded hotels to Puerto Rico after a nine year absence. Hyatt Place Bayamón and El Tropical Casino, expected to open in the first quarter of 2014, will be a seven story building offering 156 guestrooms with an adjoining casino, free-standing restaurant and bar, and a multi-level parking garage. The hotel will be located next to the 42-acre Luis A. Ferré Science Park and will also be close to the city’s largest shopping mall. Bayamón is the island’s second most populous city and is located 15 miles southwest of San Juan.

The cutting-edge W Hotel Istanbul unveils a new Restaurant, OKKA. OKKA serves bold Turkish classics, created by master chef Tolga Atalay in a contemporary bistro setting. These include pomegranate marinated chicken, rose petal crème brûleé, fried semolina stuffed with lamb, as well as mezze specialties and 25 variations of kebab. OKKA also offers the widest collection of locally produced wines in Istanbul, and Turkey’s only self-pour Raki service for guests to enjoy the popular Turkish anise-flavoured liquor. In a typical W take on tradition fused with technology, OKKA features the world’s first three-dimensional holographic belly dancer – a futuristic image that contrasts with the restaurant’s burnished leather wallpaper, alabaster marble bar, etched smoked mirror inlays and azure columns.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that an affiliate has signed a management agreement with Hotel De La Paix, Co., Ltd. for the first Hyatt-branded hotel in Cambodia. Under the agreement, Hotel De La Paix Siem Reap, one of the country’s top-rated hotels, will be rebranded as Park Hyatt Siem Reap. The hotel will close on June 30, 2012 for a complete renovation and is expected to open as Park Hyatt Siem Reap in the first quarter of 2013. The property, designed by award-winning Bangkok-based interior designer Bill Bensley, was voted as Cambodia’s No. 1 hotel by Travel + Leisure and ranked No. 29 on its World’s Best Hotels 2010 list. Bensley will oversee the upcoming renovation. Park Hyatt Siem Reap will include 107 guest rooms and suites and features two restaurants, a bar and a retail bakery. The hotel will also feature meeting facilities, a spa, fitness center, and two swimming pools.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced its Aloft® brand will open a new property in Cupertino, California in early 2013. Aloft Cupertino will be the third Aloft to open in California and its second in Silicon Valley, following the opening of Aloft San Francisco Airport in July 2012. Aloft Cupertino will deliver style at a steal with 123 spacious, loft-like rooms, forward-thinking technology and a vibrant, social atmosphere. Located in the heart of Cupertino’s business district, the new Aloft will be convenient to numerous high-tech businesses such as Apple, Hewlett Packard and IBM. Also nearby are Santa Clara University, HP Pavilion, Winchester Mystery House, and a selection of wineries and world-class golf courses. Amenities will include an indoor pool, w xyz sm bar, 24-hour fitness center and 2,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, ideal for both business meetings and social gatherings.

The Rezidor Hotel Group is to operate the Okoume Palace Hotel in Libreville, Gabon. Rezidor recently took over the management of the property. Rezidor will operate the property as an unbranded hotel for an interim period while the Okoume Palace Hotel (a former InterContinental Hotel) will undergo an extensive renovation. In September 2013, the hotel will be dual branded – offering a 330 rooms Radisson Blu hotel and a 140 rooms Park Inn by Radisson hotel tower. In addition, the complex will provide 5 restaurants & bars, extensive meeting facilities, a business class lounge, a gym, and an outdoor swimming pool.

De-Thompsonized and Re-Kimptonized 1: Hotel Sax in Chicago, which has been a Thompson for just over two years will turn into a Kimpton Hotel on April 27th. A Thompson source says the Sax was just “not up to brand standards” hence the reason why they took over Sutton Place, which will turn into Thompson Chicago after some renovations. This switch now means Thompson’s standing in the Windy City drops from two back down to one while Kimpton bumps up to five hotels in Chi-town. Meanwhile in Toronto, the Sutton Place Toronto Hotel has closed to be turned into condos.

De-Thompsonized and Re-Kimptonized 2: The Donovan House in Washington, DC will turn into a Kimpton Hotel on April 10. Previously it was managed by Thompson Hotels and apparently is leaving Thompson Hotels for the same reason as the Hotel Sax in Chicago. That’s down to 0 for Thompson in the capital, and up to 8 for Kimpton, not counting another 3 in Alexandria, just over the Virginia border.

The InterCityHotel Group has joined forces with colleges of art to launch a special and unique project in which art students create tailored photographic works for InterCityHotels. Since 2008, all new InterCityHotels have featured specially produced photo art designed to match in with the respective hotel and its surrounding environment. In 2011, this successful project was extended to include existing InterCityHotels and hotels which have recently been renovated.

The Frankfurt-based InterCityHotel Group has been busy turning its city hotels into art galleries since 2008, when it implemented a concept unique in Germany. Under a special arrangement entered into with colleges, art students are producing photographic works for new and newly renovated InterCityHotels. The hotel group’s initial cooperation partner was the Academy of Fine Arts in Braun¬schweig, the project later being continued in conjunction with the Faculty of Design at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. The young artists involved undertake extensive preparatory work by carefully researching the past and present of the location in question. They then create photographic works of art which interpret the environment in which the hotel stands. The works themselves may be viewed both in the public areas of the hotel and in the guest rooms.

The newly constructed InterCityHotel in Dresden served as a pilot for the project in 2008. It was followed in the same year by establishments in Essen and Mainz and then by the InterCityHotels in Hannover, at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport and in Mannheim. The first newly renovated hotel to display specially created photo art was the InterCityHotel in Kiel in 2011. Art galleries have also been in place in Ulm and Vienna since last year.

If someone were to make a list of the most visionary hotel owners in the United States, Ben Bethel would have to be on it. He may not own and operate the greenest hotel in America The Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix, but he is determined to take giant steps to get his boutique property to that point. - by Glenn Hasek

Take exterior lighting as one example. A switch from high-pressure sodium to LED lighting reduced wattage from 65,000 to just 250. A mini-split system for heating and cooling is saving Bethel $9,000 in electricity and water each month, and a switch to amenity dispensers as a replacement for plastic amenity bottles has reduced trash volume by an estimated six dumpsters annually.

Bethel is not a hotel school graduate. Prior to purchasing The Clarendon Hotel in 2004, he had zero experience working in a hotel. But he and other investors have helped turn around what once was a struggling property into a very hip location in the heart of midtown/downtown Phoenix.

Mention energy harvesting technology to Bethel and he will offer up a long laundry list of ways it is changing or could change how a hotel is built or operated. Smoke detectors, door locks and safes are just a few items that could either be powered by systems using energy harvesting, or generate energy using it, he says.

Just One Ice Machine

The Clarendon Hotel features modular carpeting, a carpeting type Bethel expects to be in most hotels in the next six years. The hotel has just one ice machine. This saves not only energy and water but also on cleaning time. Guests requesting ice give Bethel and his staff one more opportunity to interact with guests. A local company sets up and manages the recycling bins in the hotel. Two electric vehicle charging stations are available for guests.

The aforementioned highly efficient heating and cooling system is kept off entirely when guests are not in their rooms. Even in the extremely hot summer in Phoenix, it takes just a few minutes to cool a guestroom. The installation of the mini-split system meant the hotel no longer needed its cooling tower, saving the use of several hundred thousand gallons of water per month. The boiler was also no longer needed which eliminated the need for an air quality permit.

Honeycomb window shades help to reduce heat transfer. Low-flow toilets (1.6 gallons per minute), showerheads (1.5 gpm) and aerators (.5 gpm) reduce water consumption. Essential oils instead of a commonly used spray product are used to control unpleasant odors.

Perhaps no other topic gets Bethel going more than the amenity dispensers versus the little plastic bottles debate. In response to a recent Green Lodging News article on amenity dispensers, Bethel sent a list describing ways dispensers are beneficial—ways not typically considered. For example, he says amenity dispensers reduce the risk of slip and fall injuries from bottles and caps laying around on tub/shower floors. He adds that they also reduce the amount of time housekeepers have to spend bent over cleaning shampoo and other liquid spills. Bethel advocates the total elimination of individual plastic amenity bottles—even if it takes a legislative act to outlaw them.